Remote control fuzesetter



I July 29, 1958 I R. AIKEN 2,345,927

' REMOTE CONTROL FLYIZESETTER Filed Nov. 18, 1954 N VENTOR ATTORNEYS 7 2,845,027 REMOTE CONTROL FUZESETTER Richard Aiken, Washington, D. C.

A Application November 18, 1954, Serial No. 469,867

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United. Statesv of America for governmental purposes Without the pay ment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This invention relates to remote control fuzesetters for ordnance items and more particularly to a remote control fuzesetter characterized by the provision of a synchronous motor within the fuze body portion to set the timing disc lever responsive to input signals from a central control station.

Mechanical time bomb fuzes of the type identified as T55El or AN-M145 and disclosed in military publica- United States Patent ()fiice tions such as the Army Manual TM'1980, Air Force Manual AFM 136-7, and, Navy BuOrd OP l5v48fare standardcfor production of bomb or missile air bursts and normally are made up of several parts rotatable with initiatesc'tli'e firing pin action by dropping into a recess provided in the periphery'tof the timing disc. The existing method is to set'thistype, of fuze when the aircraft is on the ground, flying a predetermined altitude governed by the time delay set in the fuze, and releasing the bomb or missile at the prescribed altitude to effectuate an air burst of .the bomb'at a required height.

The present invention overcomes the prior art deficiencies above-noted by aifording a means adapted for use in mechanicaltime fuzes of the nature described which permits thefuze to be set either manually, or to be set by remote control after take-01f of the aircraft. Thus, the aircraft pilot may deviate his flight pattern to meet the tactical situation without interfering with effective bomb release. This is possible because the fuze settings may be changed in all or a remaining part of the bomb load until time of release by virtue of the instant invention.

7 An object of the present, invention is the provision of a fuzesetter for time fuzes for airborne bombs, missiles,

or'the like which may be operated from a remote position at any time prior to launching.

Another object is to provide means for adapting standard mechanical time bomb fuzes' forfa's elective combination of either remote control or manual setting.

f remote controlled time fuze which contains a'signal re- I sponsive' means within the fuze housing to time set the fuze; v I p 7 ,Still another object is to provide a fuzesetter which may be operated either with others or individually from 3 fa remote control station. I

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of g this invention will be readily appreciated as the same I becomes better understood by reference to the following The timing disc 'lever:

' brated in units oftirne, for example, quarter seconds,

' A further object of the invention is the provision of a"- The drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention, shows a standard mechanical time fuze 10 having a body portion'11, and a cap portion 12 rotatably mounted therewith. Conventional fuze elements such as firing pin striker 13, safety block 14, calibrated head 15, firing pin 16, arming pin 17, arming lever 18, arming cam 19, detonator slider 21, and deto nator 22 are positioned within the fuze structure .in their normal fashion and as such do not comprise a part of this invention. V i c Timing disc 23 contains a notched portion 24 to receive. the timing disc lever 25 which in turn releases the firing pin 16 to explode the detonator 22. The timing disc lever 25 releases the firing'pin 16 by releasing a stop on half-round pin 34. This enables the half-round pin to' be rotated out of the path of the firing pin by pressure of a spring-loaded collar member 35 fixed to the firing pin. The action of the movement of the timing disc lever 25 into the slot or notched portion 24 is translated by means of a mechanical linkage such as a pawl, not

a part of the present invention, to release the stop on the half-round pin 34. A synchro disc 26 is, coaxially mounted immediatelly below timing disc 23, and is engaged with timing .disc lever 25 so that the lever 25 may be carried and positioned about the'periphery of'disc 23 by rotation of the synchro disc 26. A drive shaft 28,

which may be fixed to synchro disc. 26 by meanssuch as brazing, operatively'connects the synchro disc'26' with 1 a synchro motor 29 which is coaxially positioned Within the fuze body portion 11 above conventional time mech anism such as clockwork 31 of fuze 10. Wiring 32 connects synchro motor '29 with a quick disconnect,

socket 33 'for connection with a master synchro (not' shown) which is located in the aircraftconvenient to the operator. A manual control on the master synchro, may be provided to allow the fuze settingon adial cali which setting is relayed to the timing disc lever 25 through synchro receivers or motors 29 by suitable wiring plugged into socket 33 of the individual fuz'es' The,

synchros 29 l operate on suitable A. '0. current such I as 110 volts, or 24 volts; 7, I 7

The principle of operation of the instantinvention makes possible fuze setting either manually; or by re,-: mote control. carried within a slotted portion of disc 26, for example, is rotated when remote control setting is; desired by motor 29 which turns synchro disc 26 and timing disc 7 lever 25 responsive to a signal from the mastersynchro. This setting may be changed at will by the operator;

until the release of the bomb, rocket, or missile which contains fuze .10. socket 33 pulls away from its connection with the master synchro, and the plug (not shown) for the socket 33 may be utilized again in anew fuze. When arming pin 17 is ejected in the conventional manner, clockwork' 31 turns the timing disc 23 at a uniform rate-theperiphe'ral distance between lever 25 and notch 24 providedtin the timing disc 23,. 'When the timing disc notch 24 ,is;

i .1 brought to thelocationof lever 25, the timing disc lever,

in timing disc 23 which distance determines the time delay before the lever 25 drops into notch 24 to'release' the firing pin 16. The timing disc lever maybe posi-w tioned by rotation of the ,fuze cap portion 12 relative to 2,845,027 I Patented July 1958;

The timing disc lever 25 which may be Upon release, the quick disconnect I the body portion 11 by hand, or by the turning of synchro disc 26 by remote control. More specifically, inasmuch as the timing disc lever 25 is carried in a slot or opening in the synchro disc 26 a manual setting of the fuze by rotation of calibrated head 15 necessarily turns the synchro disc 26 and the armature shaft 23 of the synchro motor 29. Conversely, when the fuze is set by means of the synchro motor 29, the hollow shaft 28 is caused to rotate the synchro disc 26 which carries therein the timing disc lever 25. The movement of the lever 25 by synchro disc 26 causes the calibrated head 15 to rotate. Thus, it can be seen that the setting of the fuze manually by rotation of calibrated head 15 rotates the shaft 28 of motor 29 through the mechanical,

connection of the synchro disc 26 with the lever 25.

This invention makes possible the setting and change in setting of time fuzes installed in bombs, rockets, or missiles of any nature, particularly those to be released or launched from aircraft.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the. light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. In a mechanical time fuze of the type having a timing disc provided with a notch and a timing disc lever for time setting the fuze, a synchro motor having a shaft and positioned within the fuze, an actuating disc operatively connected to and rotated with the shaft of said synchro motor in response to the operation of said motor, means on said actuating disc in engagement with the timing disc lever to position said lever about the periphery of the timing disc in predetermined spaced relation with respect to the notch in the timing disc so as to time set the fuze in response to operation of said motor, and electrical connecting means for connecting said synchro motor to the exterior of the fuze.

2. In a mechanical time fuze of the type having a firing pin, clockwork, a manually rotatable head, a timing disc lever connected to the head, a timing disc provided witha shaft rotatably driven by the clockwork, said disc having a peripheral notch provided therein adapted to receive the timing disc lever, said timing disc lever being settable about the periphery of said disc in response to and in accordance with rotation of the fuze head, and firing pin retaining means releasably engaged with the firing pin and biasing the timing lever against the periphery of the disc for urging the lever into the notch of the disc when the latter is rotated by the clockwork to a position in which the notch is in juxtaposition with the lever, the biased movement of said lever into the disc notch releasing the firing pin retaining means to thereby release the firing pin; the combination comprising a drivable electrical signal receiving means positioned Within the fuze between said clockwork and said timing disc, said signal receiving means having a rotatable hollow shaft coaxially disposed with respect to the shaft of said clockwork, disc means coupled to said signal receiving means via said hollow shaft and rotated thereby in response to operation of said signal receiving means, and means on said disc means and drivingly engaged with the fuze timing lever for moving and setting the timing lever about the periphery of the timing disc in predetermined spaced relation with respect to said notch in said timing disc to thereby set the time of release of the firing pin in accordance with a signal received at the signal receiving means.

3. in a mechanical time fuze of the type having a firing pin, clockwork, a manually rotatable head, a timing disc lever connected to the head, a timing disc shaft rotatably driven by the clockwork, a timing disc connected to said shaft and provided with a peripheral notch adapted to receive the timing disc lever, said timing disc lever being settable about the periphery of said disc in response to and in accordance with rotation of the fuze head, and firing pin retaining means releasably engaged with the firing pin and biasing the timing lever against the periphery of the disc for urging the lever into the notch of the disc when the latter is rotated by the clockwork to a position in which the notch is in juxtaposition with the lever, the biased movement of said lever into the disc notch releasing the firing pin retaining means to thereby release the firing pin; the combination comprising a drivable electrical signal receiving synchro motor positioned within the fuze, said synchro motor having a hollow rotatable shaft, and a synchro disc coupled to said hollow shaft and rotated thereby in response to operation of said synchro motor, a slot formed in said synchro disc and having means bordering thereon and drivingly engagedwith the fuze timing lever for moving and setting the timing lever about the periphery of the timing disc in predetermined spaced relation with respect to said notch in said timing disc to thereby set the time of release of the firing pin in accordance with the signal received at the synchro motor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,449,170 MacLean Sept. 14, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 58,603 Sweden Apr. 7, 1925 

